I’d like to introduce a new chapter to Watling St Beer. It is not for everyone, however, I do hope you will give it a try.

Community Beers

One of the core values of the brewery is community. However, I completely underestimated the positive impact our space has created. It actually gives me goose bumps. It makes me feel incredibly proud and even a bit emotional. It has accidentally become THE core value.

(1)Brand Advocacy
Brand Advocacy is the concept of a brand giving 10% of profits to charity. You see this a lot on products all the time. Not to say it’s rubbish, but you certainly lack visibility of how much actually ends up being passed on and where it ends up within a charity.

There is certainly no intrinsic feel good factor and no direct positive impact.

(2)Brewery Membership
This is a concept of paying an annual fee to attend a brewery once a month on a school night to drink unlimited beer and get trollied. It can be fun, although it’s actually a bit pointless and lacks a positive influence on society.

Community Beers
We are going to incorporate a blend of (1) & (2).

We a trialling the concept for 3 months – 5th October, 11th November (Daytime), 5th December. We know it will be an overwhelming success. We just want to iron out the process.

In a nutshell:

– To join at any time during the 3 months will cost you £40 (This will be revised after the 3rd month)
– Each night, 1 local charity/cause/foundation (CCF) will give a short presentation of what they are all about.
– At the end of the presentation, they give us a checklist of help required (5-10 items).
– Help could be in the guise of volunteering, mentorship, DIY projects, services required etc.
– We all help where we can, individually or as a collective. Use the night to brainstorm and plan. To tick box as many itms as possible during the month.
– The next month, we have the 1st CCF tell us what was achieved against the list. This is key as it gives us a demonstrable sense of how powerful we are as a community. To instil positive change through beer.
– Then the second chosen CCF presents and the cycle continues.